London Heathrow to Hong Kong flight makes emergency landing in Siberia after ‘FIRE’ detected on board
Cathay Pacific Boeing-777 diverted to Novosibirsk in eastern Russia as the crew reportedly responded to an on-board alarm
A PASSENGER jet from Heathrow to Hong Kong made an emergency landing in eastern Russia early today after reports of "smoke" in the aircraft.
The Cathay Pacific Boeing-777 diverted to Novosibirsk in Siberia six hours into the flight as the crew responded to an on-board alarm.
Michael Ots, from Bournemouth, tweeted a picture of the snow-covered runway after flight CX250 landed at Tolmachevo International Airport at 0.20am UK time.
He said passengers were told there was smoke or fire somewhere in the hold, adding: "Thankful to be safe. Wasn't expecting to end up in #Siberia."
Michael told the Sun Online: "Basically everyone was asleep with nothing unusual. First thing we noticed was that the cabin crew were running around very frantically.
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"Obviously everyone wakes up pretty fast when that happens. The pilot announced we were making a 'precautionary landing due to a technical issue'.
"It was 15 minutes from the first we realised to landing at Novosibirsk. But the approach and landing were normal. Strangely quiet though as obviously we didn't know what the issue was.
"Since then we have waited for seven hours in the departure lounge and now at a hotel where we'll stay until a new flight arrives to take us on at midnight."
Michael said Siberia was "cold" and "white", adding: "I think people are more glad to be alive than annoyed at being redirected. To be honest it makes me glad that as a Christian I know where my final destination will be and it's much better than Siberia."
The 214 passengers and 18 crew on board were taken into the terminal building and my be put up in hotels, local reports said.
The airport confirmed the jet had made a landing at the crew's decision.
A police source told Russian new agency TASS: "Early information says the landing was caused by a false activation of an emergency gauge."
Siberian authorities have sent an official investigator to the airport.
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